Lawless GOP shows its colors

Thursday

Oct 3, 2013 at 6:00 AM

By Dianne Williamson

Lest anyone doubt that alien extremist fanatics roam our nation disguised as legislative leaders, now comes the governor of the nation's second-largest state, duly elected three times, as he calls implementation of the federal law known as Obamacare a criminal act:

"If this health care law is forced upon this country, the young men and women in this audience are the ones who are really going to pay the price," claimed Texas Gov. Rick Perry. "And that, I will suggest to you, reaches to the point of being a felony toward them and their future. That is a criminal act, from my perspective, to put that type of burden on them, to mortgage their future like that. America cannot stand that."

OK, so logic and law aren't Perry's thing. He may not like it, but the act he calls a felony was passed by Congress, signed by the President and upheld as constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. Republicans tried more than 40 times to repeal it and failed each time. Bummer for them. But Obamacare is the law of the land.

That's the great thing about the United States — we're a nation of laws. Responsible leaders understand this; when they don't get their way, they tend to resist the urge to hold their breath until they turn blue.

But the radical fringe of the Republican Party hasn't been rational for some time, and now it's managed to shut down the government, and the only thing stranger than such blatant legislative extortion is the subsequent insistence that it's really no big deal. So what if it's upsetting the tourists? So what if the United States has turned into a laughingstock that can't govern itself? Some moronic GOP mouthpieces are even blaming the Democrats for exaggerating the effects of a shutdown, which is enough to make your head hurt.

"This doesn't impact me mentally," said Sean Hannity of Fox News. Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh predicted that Democrats would scare people by claiming the shutdown would harm food programs for children, which it may if it continues long enough.

But it's not the Democrats doing the scaring, as evidenced by a creepy new ad intended to convince young women that they're better off without Obamacare. The commercial shows a giant puppet-like Uncle Sam with a head even larger than Jim McGovern's appearing at a gynecological exam, apparently intending to sexually assault a timid young female patient with a speculum because she was stupid enough to sign up for health insurance.

"Don't let the government play doctor," the ominous ad warns viewers. "Opt out of Obamacare." It's part of a campaign by an anti-Obamacare group backed by the billionaire Koch brothers.

At least the ads are, you know, legal. I'm no expert on health care, but I've taken enough U.S. history classes to know that our government shouldn't be shuttered because one side doesn't get what it wants, especially when it's irrational. This latest manufactured crisis is about more than the Affordable Care Act; even those who despise it should be appalled at the thug-like tactics of Obama's detractors.

Because life often imitates art, I'll leave you with a scene from HBO's "The Newsroom," which I tend to quote because it's written by the eminently quotable Aaron Sorkin. In the first season finale, which aired long before the tea party's latest shenanigans, fictional TV anchor Will McAvoy got into hot water — no pun intended — because he called the tea party the American Taliban.

"They believe in loving America, but hating its government," McAvoy told viewers. "Most of all, you must never, under any circumstance, seek to reach a compromise with your opponent."